


The Price of Friendship

by MsChievous



Series: Promptis Fan Week 2017 [3]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Poor Prompto, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-14
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-12-29 20:31:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12092850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsChievous/pseuds/MsChievous
Summary: For Promptis Week Day 4 - Good EnoughIn which Prompto tries to be good enough for Noctis and ends up fucking it all up.As usual.





	The Price of Friendship

**Author's Note:**

> Note: This does involve eating disorders. I have no experience in this field, so all of this is written from research and my own take on Prompto's character. If I get something wrong, please let me know! If you'd rather to it anonymously, message me [here!](https://stuck-in-ffxv-hell.tumblr.com/ask)
> 
> Secondly, this fic was inspired by [chikelo's](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chikelo/pseuds/chikelo) fics [Skinny for the Prince](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11747820/chapters/26475438) and [Salad Days](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12083325/chapters/27383052). Give them a read, they're really great!

It was hard being a teenager. It was if every single one of your actions was put under a microscope until a bad angle could be found. More often than not you didn’t even need a microscope to figure out how you fucked up. Just walk up to the nearest self-important adult and ask them.

Prompto leaned his head back against the wall, tucking the phone between his shoulder and ear so that his hands were free to run through and pull at his hair. “Yes, mom, I understand, it’s just-”

“Prompto, this is not a debate.” His mother cut him off, “We don’t have the money to spend on your lunches, you  _ need _ to get them from school. We might as well make use of the free lunches you get with your scholarship.”

Barely concealing a groan, Prompto pressed his back against the wall and slid down until he was sitting on the ground. He wanted to protest, it was disgusting,  _ unhealthy _ , coated in grease and fat and he was going to gain twenty pounds that  _ he couldn’t afford _ by the end of the year and he couldn’t risk it, not when Noctis was texting him regularly now, now that they hung out together.

“Okay, I understand,” He said, trying to conceal his disappointment.

“Good. Now, how has your week been?”

 

* * *

 

Noctis was waiting for him when he got to school that morning. “Hey, where’d your lunch box go? You forget it?” Noctis asked, glancing at where Prompto usually had it attached to his backpack.

“Nah,” Prompto waved away Noctis’ concern, “Just got tired of making it day in and day out. Figured I’d just get a lunch here.”

“Ouch, that’s gotta suck.”

“What d’you mean?”  
“The food here is shit. Iggy made a big stink once when I forgot my lunch once and had to eat what I _think_ was a hamburger. Called it ‘nutritionally unfit even for prisoners’.”

Prompto snorted, “Sounds like him.” He nudged Noctis with an elbow, “But some of us don’t have fancy butlers who attend to our every whim and make us fancy food.”

Noctis shoved away Prompto lightly, “Iggy’s not a butler. He’s an  _ advisor _ .”

“Sounds more like a mom to me, but, hey.”

In lieu of a response, Noctis “accidentally” bumped his shoulder into Prompto’s causing the blond to stumble a few steps.

“Hey!” Prompto squawked, quickly regaining his balance and then turning to bump right back into Noctis, who shifted out of the way so Prompto went tumbling through the open air. Before Prompto could trip and fall, though, Noctis’ hand shot out, wrapping around the blond’s wrist and yanking him back, keeping a tight grip until Prompto had regained his balance.

“Careful, don’t want to have to call you mom to pick you up from school,” Noctis teased, pulling Prompto down the hallway. “C’mon, you gotta put your stuff away before homeroom.”

Prompto didn’t bother mentioning his mother was nowhere  _ close _ to being able to pick him up from school, it didn’t matter. He shouldn’t have to burden his friend, never mind the  _ prince _ with his pathetic problems.

 

* * *

 

“What, did the pizza do something to offend you?” Noctis asked through a mouthful of what looked like the tastiest meatball in existence.

Prompto was staring down at his cardboard-masquerading-as-pizza, trying to figure out if there was a way to make this healthier other than not eating it. He had already blotted out two napkins worth of grease from the cheese alone, and he didn’t even want to think about the fruit cup he was given. Sure, it was healthier than pizza, but it had so much  _ sugar _ in it, he felt sick just looking at it.

“My whole family was murdered by pizzas,’ Prompto said, tearing off a piece of the crust. He couldn’t eat this, he’d inflate like a balloon, and he wouldn’t be able to look Noctis in the face, and his entire life would be over. So he started to break the pizza up into smaller bits, so it would look more picked over.

“Ah, that sucks. At least it’s payback this time?” Noctis laughed.

“Yes, I shall eat all of their kind. For mother and father and Cecilia.”

“Who’s Cecilia?”

Prompto shrugged. “I figure she’d be my little sister who I had an adorable relationship with. She would play tea party with me, I would scare away the mean kids, stuff like that.”

“Oh really?” Noctis is more amused now, not paying attention to Prompto carefully stuffing pieces of pizza into the grease-soaked napkins.

“Yeah, really. Her death was quite tragic. Our parents managed to get us away, but the pizzas ambushed us. Cecilia was killed telling me to run. Very tragic, I sometimes still get nightmares.”

“Wow, you should write a book,” Noctis grinned, and Prompto smiled right back. He could do this, he just had to not eat lunch every day for the rest of his high school career. He could do this.

  
  


* * *

 

He could not do this.

“Dude, you’ve barely touched your pasta,” Noctis furrowed his brow as Prompto made a move to throw away the plastic bowl.

“Not that hungry,” He said, hoping Noctis would drop the subject, and they could resume joking around and talking about nothing at all.

“You didn’t eat much of your sandwich yesterday, or those chickatrice nuggets the day before that, or the garula meat loaf the day before that. Are you feeling okay?”  
Prompto rubbed his forehead. He had to find a way out of this, he had to _think_ , “I’m just feeling a little off, and this food isn’t really helping,” He forced a grin, which dropped when Noctis didn’t smile back.

“Then don’t eat it, just go back to making your lunches.” Noctis said.

Prompto wanted to, he  _ really _ did, but he  _ promised _ his mom he wouldn’t waste money on lunches, and he didn’t want to disappoint or anger his mom. But he also didn’t want to act like a charity case, or make Noctis feel like he had to offer assistance. “Yeah,” he agreed, “That’d be the best idea, I’m just a lazy little shit,” He pushed Noctis lightly, and that was the end of it.

 

* * *

 

Noctis watched worriedly as Prompto toyed with his food. He  _ always _ did that now, he’d been doing it for the past week and a half, and it made Noctis’ stomach twist. He didn’t know what to say, Prompto said he wasn’t sick, but he  _ looked _ sick, their homeroom teacher had even commented on it, but Prompto had brushed it aside, like he always did.

“Hey,” He piped up, drawing Prompto’s attention away from his shitty cafeteria food. “You wanna come over? Like, for dinner or something?”

Prompto’s eyes widened. “Is that, like,  _ okay _ , or whatever?”

Noctis laughed, “Yeah, it’s okay. You wanna do it?” 

“Of course dude, just let me know when!”

“I mean, does today work?”

“I, uh, yeah, it should.”  
“Good, I’ll have Iggy pick us both up.”

As Prompto went back to picking at his food Noctis pursed his lips. Maybe in a public area like school, he was closed off and guarded, but hopefully in a more secluded place, with people who cared about him, he could talk it out.

 

* * *

 

“I hope it’s okay, I ordered pizza for dinner.”

Dread settled in Prompto’s stomach, but he smiled anyway. “Yeah, that’s fine, dude.”

Noctis gave him a sideways glance , but said nothing as Prompto shucked off his blazer and draped it carefully over the back of a chair. “Cool. You feeling up to eating? You’ve been looking pretty sick lately.”

_ Shit, he had noticed _ . Prompto mentally slapped himself. He had been way too obvious about it, he had to be sneakier, he had to hide it. “Y-yeah, it was just a bit of a stomach thing. Anxiety or whatever. I’m fine now.”  _ I’m not fine _ .

Noctis’ relieved smile was worth it. “I’m glad.”

When Prompto saw the pizza, however, he nearly cried. It wasn’t a normal pizza, it was a deep dish. That  _ had _ to be more calories. It would have so many calories, he’d have to run for hours just to pull even, or maybe he’d be lucky enough to throw it back up, or…

Or maybe he could just throw it back up himself. 

It wasn’t his best option, he knew that, but he needed Noctis to think he was fine, that he wasn’t sick or pitiful or whatever.

And, hey, the pizza tasted great. It settled uncomfortably in the pit of his stomach, and he could already feel the bloating, but Noctis was here with him, and he didn’t say anything outside of encouraging him to take another slice.

Guilt cut deep in his chest as he took the offered pizza, knowing with certainty that he was going to throw it back up anyway. But it was just pizza, not one of Ignis’ homemade meals or anything, and it probably wasn’t that expensive.

Noctis was relaxing against him, a comforting warmth against his side, and he allowed himself to relax for just a moment.

 

* * *

 

He had been sick with the flu once or twice before, and throwing up then had been a relief. A crescendo of roiling sickness, and then near instantaneous relief as his body expelled his contents.

This was nothing like that. 

His heart hammered nearly out of his chest when his gag reflex finally took over, and alarm bells rang in his head.  _ THIS IS WRONG _ , they screamed at him. But still he heaved out his dinner into the toilet until he was left shaking and jittery.

Gods, that fucking  _ sucked _ . He didn’t want to do that, he just wanted Noctis to leave him alone so he could deal with this himself.

But of course Noctis didn’t let him alone.

He kept  _ watching _ him at lunch, making sure he put food in his mouth and actually  _ swallowed _ . 

He didn’t think Noctis noticed that the food was the problem, since his friend would press his hand against his forehead or offer to walk him to the nurse’s office, which Prompto immediately refused.

But it was still annoying, so he got used to a pattern: Eat whatever he was given for lunch, then excuse himself to the bathroom in the next class to throw it back up. He made sure to use the bathroom by the old gym, so it would be highly unlikely that anyone would find him. 

It kept feeling horrible, but gods damn was it slightly exhilarating to think that he could eat all this food and not have it affect him. He was losing weight, and he was looking better than ever. He didn’t know why he hadn’t done it sooner. He had tried fasting back when he was first starting his weight-loss journey, but he hadn’t been able to keep it up. Even when he knew how many calories he was putting in his body, how stupid, fucking  _ awful _ this was for his body, he still fucking ate.

Of course, he had made up for it by exercising religiously, almost feverishly, but this… this was different. It was harder to hide in general, anyone who walked in this bathroom would hear him retching.

But he could hide it more easily from Noctis, so his friend wouldn’t think he was just some pity case, and that made it all worthwhile.

 

* * *

 

Noctis watched as Prompto ate his lunch, a remarkably bland-smelling soup. He seemed to be getting better, he was eating his lunches again, even more than he usually did. But he was still slightly sick-looking, and Noctis’ stomach twisted with worry. Prompto didn’t seem to be saying anything, but each day, he was looking worse by the day.

“Hey, dude, you feeling okay? You’re looking kinda… off,” He said.

Prompto glanced up at him, then shrugged. “Yeah, just tired.” He said, going back to shovelling his soup in his mouth.

Noctis nodded slowly. “You feeling up to gym class today? We’re going to be doing a lot of running. You might want to rest in the nurse’s office.”

Prompto waved the concern away. “Nah, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

Noctis still worried. 

He didn’t have the next class with Prompto, but then they had gym class, and Noctis kept a close eye on his friend.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Noctis rested a hand on Prompto’s shoulder, brows furrowing when the blond looked at him dazedly.

“Yeah, dude, I’m fine. Just a few cramps. I’ll be goalie, and I’ll be fine,” He said with a grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Prompto, seriously, you’re sick. You need to rest.”

“Noct, I’m telling you now, I’m fine,” Prompto wrenched his shoulder out of Noctis’ grip, stumbling slightly before regaining his balance.

Noctis bit his lip, then sighed, following Prompto towards the gym. 

Warm-ups went without much hassle, though Prompto seemed to be struggling through the push-ups, sit-ups, and jumping jacks, and when their coach blew her whistle to stop the warm-up and they all collapsed back on the floor.

Prompto’s breath was heaving in and out, though he tried to hide it. It almost sounded as if he was having an asthma attack. He didn’t  _ think _ Prompto had asthma, but could it manifest out of nowhere? If so, what could they do about it?

“Caelum!” His coach barked, and Noctis jumped. 

“Huh?”

“I’m up here,” She said, narrowing her eyes pointedly.

Noctis flushed, then nodded. “Yes, ma’am,” He mumbled.

“Good. Now that we’ve reviewed the positions, does anyone have any questions?”

Nobody responded, and she flapped her hands. “Three laps, then split into two groups. Go,” 

After a few seconds of grumbling, everyone got to their feet and started trotting around the track around the soccer field. 

Noctis started out at his usual pace, a jog just barely faster than a speedwalk, expecting Prompto to easily pass him, as he usually did. Except now, Prompto seemed to be struggling just to keep pace with him. Only vague threats of eternal lap-running kept him moving as he turned to look at Prompto.

“Okay, you look like you’re about to pass out, buddy. Why don’t we slow down?” Noctis was already slowing his pace so that he was definitely walking right now. Prompto followed suit, panting and almost bent over at the waist.

“Y-yeah…” He huffed. “I-Noctis, I-I think some…somethin’s wron’”

“Wh-what-” Before Noctis could finish, Prompto’s eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he collapsed in a heap.

Noctis’ heart leapt in his throat and he dropped to his knees beside his friend, pressing his hand against the blond’s forehead. Despite how hard Prompto had been pushing himself, his skin was dry, and he didn’t seem to have a fever. Coupled with the fainting, it seemed likely we was dehydrated, if Ignis’ lessons were anything to go by.

“What happened?” They coach hurried over to Prompto’s side, a thick satchel bouncing behind her.

“H-He just passed out. He’s been looking really sick lately, and I think he’s dehydrated.

Their coach sighed, waving away a group of curious students who had started crowding close to Prompto, trying to get a good look. “C’mon, get moving, or I’ll have you running laps all period.” The students scattered, then the coach turned back to him. “Caelum, go get the nurse, I’ll stay here with him.”

 

* * *

 

Noctis had never run so fast in his life.

He tore past a teacher who told him to slow down, but he ignored them as he made a sharp turn into the administrative offices of the school. There, he finally skidded to a stop, huffing from exertion. Then, ignoring the receptionists’ questions, he barrelled towards the nurse’s office.

She was a prim-looking woman, only about 5 feet tall, but a commanding presence, as he quickly learned when he burst in while she was talking with a student.

“Mister Caelum, wh-”

“Sorry! Prom- uh, another student passed out. Um, on the track, outside. Coach told me to come get you.”

The nurse’s brows furrowed and she turned to the student. “Just stay here.” Then she grabbed a giant bag and bustled Noctis out the door. “Well? Show me the way.”

Noctis did his best to stay calm as the nurse questioned him, but it was hard. Prompto just… he just fell down, and didn’t get back up, and that was  _ scary _ .

Once they arrived at the race track, Noctis hung back, trying to stay out of the way of the nurse, but also not really wanting to play soccer anymore.

“How long has he been unconscious?” The nurse asked.

“A little over five minutes now,” The coach said, glancing at her watch.

The nurse pursed her lips. “That’s mildly concerning. I would suggest getting him to a medical facility, there might be some complications. Do you know if he hit his head on the way down?”

“I...I don’t think so,” Noctis responded. He tried to think, but it was all so fuzzy, it happened too fast for him to remember.

“Still, I need to call an ambulance. Noctis, will you wait by the entrance to direct the EMTs this way?

Terror threaded its way through his chest at the words “hospital”, “ambulance” and “EMT”, but he nodded and hurried towards the street. He would do anything to help Prompto.

 

* * *

 

…

...where was he…?

Everything was so fuzzy and weird and it kinda hurt. 

The fuzz cleared away slightly, and he could make out a tile ceiling. That was weird, his house didn’t have a tile ceiling, why was there a tile ceiling?

He blinked slowly, then turned his head to the side. Ow, that was a mistake. But now he could see more. The edge of a computer, a plain white wall, his arm. There was a tube going into his arm. Why-

“Prompto?”

He turned his head to the other side, ignoring the pain it induced. “Hey, Noct, wassup? Where’m I?” 

Noctis looked... _ mad _ . Why did Noctis look mad, what did he do? “You’re in the hospital.”

Prompto furrowed his eyebrows. “Wha? Why’m I ‘ere?” The dust bunnies in his brain were starting to clear away, but the reason why he was at a hospital still eluded him.

“You fainted during gym class,” Noctis said, voice uncomfortably soft and level. He was sitting next to Prompto, leaning into the back of the chair and crossing his arms over his chest. Everything in his posture screamed “I hate you”, but Prompto didn’t know why. This was just like his nightmares, this  _ had _ to be a nightmare.

But before Prompto could apologize for whatever he did to upset Noctis, the prince leaned forward. “They’re not telling me much, but it sounds like you’ve been throwing up your food. Is that true?”

Oh, Noctis was mad about that. That meant this wasn’t a nightmare. Fuck.

“I-I… I mean, yeah…” He glanced to the side. “But it was only the free food! And...Oh, and I… that pizza… the pizza at your...at your house. I… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have wasted it!”

“The  _ fuck _ Prompto?” 

No, that hadn’t been the right thing to say, that had been the  _ wrong  _ thing to say.

“You think  _ that _ matters to me? What the actual fuck! Gods, no! I’m more concerned that you’re fucking  _ throwing up _ your food! Like, not getting enough food? What the fuck,  _ why _ ? Why the fuck are you  _ doing _ this to yourself?”

Prompto pursed his lips. “I… I have to be good enough.”

“Good enough? What does that mean?”

“I have to be good enough to… good enough to be your friend.”

Noctis stared at him unblinkingly. “What, and you think that means you can’t… fuck, what does that mean? Why does that matter?”

“I...I can’t be fat anymore, I need to be good en-”

“Fuck, Prompto, you’re not fucking fat! Gods, you’re probably lighter than I am!”

Prompto knew Noctis was just being nice, there was no way Prompto’s lumpy body was as sleek as Noctis’ lithe one. “I’m 118 pounds. What about you?” 

Noctis furrowed his eyebrows. “I-I don’t know, I haven’t weighed myself in ages.”

Prompto laughed hollowly. “Of course you haven’t. You don’t need to. I do. I need to make sure that I’m on the right track.

The look on Noctis’ face could only be described as “dumbfounded.” “P-prompto… have- have you thought this... how long have you been thinking like this?”

“Like what?”

“Like… like you need to be thin to be my friend, and like the only way you can do that is to fucking throw it all up?”

There was a short silence. “I… I knew had to be skinny after that one day, behind the elementary school. You had trouble lifting me up.”

Horror dawned on Noctis’ face. “I called you heavy…” He breathed.

Prompto nodded. “But the throwing up is new, I haven’t been wasting food that long. I… I first did it with the pizza, in… in your apartment. I’m sorry, I just couldn’t eat it!” He added when he saw Noctis’ face fall, “I couldn’t burn off all the calories.”

“You couldn’t…. Prompto, you’re doing all this because of me?”

“Because I want to be your friend. I want to be  _ worthy _ of you,” He corrected.

Noctis ran his hands down his face. “Gods… I can’t- I can’t deal with this, I don’t know  _ how  _ to deal with this, I need- fuck, I’ll be back.”

Without any further ado, Noctis jumped to his feet. “Just… Just get some more rest. You need it.” Then, Noctis turned on his heel and left.

Prompto found himself obeying even though he didn’t quite want to.

 

* * *

 

Once he was out of the hospital, Noctis pulled out his cell phone and tapped his dad’s contact info. The longer the phone rang, the more uncertain he was. Finally, though, Regis picked up, and Noctis was forced to talk.

“Uh, hi, dad,” He started.

“Noctis, is everything alright? Shouldn’t you be in school?” Worry laced Regis’ voice already, and Noctis tried to swallow the lump in his throat.

“I...I’m with Prompto, and he’s in the hospital,” Noctis paused, “He’s… I don’t know, he’s fine for now, but he needs… He needs his parents, but they’re not coming, they’re on a business trip.”

Regis listened silently, no doubt wondering why Noctis was calling him with this information.

“He… he needs therapy. He’s… I don’t know, like, he has some sort of eating disorder, I don’t know, but he needs help, and he needs… just…  _ someone _ , like a parent, and I just… I’m really worried, Dad,” He whispered, “It sounds like he was doing it all for me, and I guess I feel responsible.”

Regis took a deep breath. “I understand. One moment.” 

The phone call was muffled for a short time, and Noctis waited with baited breath for his father to come back on the line.

“Oh, would you look at that,” Regis said with forced playfulness, “It seems like my next meeting got cancelled.  _ And _ the one after that! How miraculous!”

Noctis laughed to keep from crying. “Thanks, dad…”

 

* * *

 

He didn’t know how much time had passed since he had fallen asleep, but when he woke up, a man in a strange black outfit was sitting in Noctis’ chair, and-

And that man was the fucking  _ king _ . Fuck.

“M-majesty…” He bowed his head as far as he was able, ignoring the sickening dizziness.

“Please, call me Regis,” 

Prompto paused. “How about Noctis’ dad?”

Noctis’ dad smiled. “I would be amenable.”

“Noct’s… where is Noct?” Prompto looked around the room. The dizziness was going away now, things were starting to slide into focus. Noctis was nowhere to be seen, the door to his room was closed, and the curtain over the window was drawn.

“Noctis is waiting outside. He asked me to talk to you,”

“About what?” Panic pulsed in his chest. All sorts of thoughts leapt unbidden through his mind, about why Noctis would have Prompto talk to his dad, and none of the ones he could have come up with were good.

“He’s worried about you. You seemed to have accrued some bad habits, and he thought you needed help getting back on track,”

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Prompto said, rubbing his nose anxiously.

“It seems you have an unhealthy relationship with food, and Noctis is worried that it could turn into something life-threatening if nothing is done.” Noctis’ dad’s voice is gentle and reassuring, much like his own father’s.

“I just… I just want to earn his friendship, I need to deserve him. This is how I can do it,” Prompto said.

Noctis’ dad looked sad. “You don’t need to earn anyone’s friendship, Prompto. You don’t  _ need _ to deserve my son, you just need to make him happy. And you do. But if you keep doing this to yourself, you are going to make him sad.”

Prompto did his best to hold back tears, “I… I don’t know if I can stop. It… It’s addicting, like, I can eat whatever I want but not have it make me into a balloon. I don’t think I can stop,” The tears spilled over and he wiped them away weakly.

It hurt to admit, but it was true. He could see how angry and worried Noctis was, and it was because of  _ him _ .  _ He _ was too weak, and it was making Noctis sad, he had to be stronger.

Noctis’ dad leaned forward, resting a hand over Prompto’s. “Son,” he whispered, “We can help. There are people who can help you.”

Prompto nodded mutely.

“Good. I’ll let my son back in here or he might try and break down the door, and then we’ll have to pay to get it replaced. That’s a hassle I don’t need.”

Covering a laugh, Prompto waited as Noctis’ dad stepped outside. There were exchanged whispers, and Prompto thought he heard “therapy” and “rehabilitation”, but all thoughts went out of his brain when Noctis stood in the doorway.

“Hey,” Prompto said through his rapidly closing throat.

“Hey right back atcha.” Noctis shut the door quietly behind him. “How are you doing?”

“I…” Prompto’s voice cracked. “I’m so sorry. I’m so  _ stupid _ , I-”

“Fuck, Prompto!” Noctis was at his side in a second, wrapping his arms loosely around the blond. “Fuck, don’t  _ say _ things like that, you’re not fucking stupid!”

Prompto froze in Noctis’ arms. “I...I’m sorry.”

“Gods, it’s okay,  _ you’re _ okay. We’re gonna be okay.”

_ Okay _ . _ He’s going to be okay _ .


End file.
